Samenvatting

The catchment area of the Bovenmark has a total area of almost 40,000 hectares. The catchment area consists of a number of subsystems (Bavelse Leij, Chaamse beek, Galderse beek, Strijbeekse beek and 't Merkske) that together form the catchment area of the Bovenmark.
In the 1990s, many development projects were carried out in the entire catchment area of the Bovenmark in which the water system was designed more naturally because the normalized character of the Bovenmark had many disadvantages in the catchment area. These development projects help to make the catchment area climate-robust, but the Brabantse Delta still faces many challenges in the field of water quality and the ecological functioning of the water system. Autonomous developments, such as climate change, also present new challenges in the field of water management, such as desiccation.

The aim of the study is to analyse the various opportunities and bottlenecks in the Bovenmark catchment area in order to make the system more climate-adaptive and robust. Therefore, the main question for this research is: What are the opportunities and bottlenecks to make the catchment area of the Bovenmark climate-proof and robust?

To give an answer to this research question different methods were used to come to an conclusion. Those methods were desk research, semi-structured interviews and a GIS data analysis. The desk research was necessary to provide and gain knowledge on the different topics for this thesis. The interviews were useful because different experts could share their thoughts and knowledge on the catchment area of the Bovenmark. The questions from the semi-structured interview were setup to gain, among other things, more information on the different tasks, policy fields and the current situation. The GIS data analysis was used to visualize the different tasks in the catchment area of the Bovenmark and to see what some of the opportunities and bottlenecks in the catchment area of the Bovenmark are to create a more climate-proof and robust system. From this research can be concluded that the catchment area of the Bovenmark has different opportunities and bottlenecks to create a more climate-proof and robust system for the future. Those opportunities and bottlenecks can be divided in short term opportunities and bottlenecks, medium-long term opportunities and bottlenecks and long term opportunities and bottlenecks. On the short term there are taking small-scale measures that can be taken on the trajectories that have already been restored in a more naturally way. Those small-scale measures are mainly extensification of maintenance, introducing brookwood and planting stream accompanying plants. From this research it can also be concluded that soil improvement is a good short term opportunity with a positive effect for both the agricultural sector and water managers. For the medium-long term the biggest opportunity is executing the measures that contribute to the water- and DPRA-tasks. Those measures are stream restoration and restoration of wet natural pearls. These restoration measures both contribute to the water- and DPRA-tasks in the catchment area of the Bovenmark. For the long term the biggest bottlenecks in the catchment area of the Bovenmark is on the long term. For the long term land use and the ownership position of land is the biggest uncertainty. To create a more climate-robust system on the long term it is important that certain functions in the catchment area of the Bovenmark may change.

On those answers and methods it is recommended that Brabantse Delta should make optimal use of the opportunities in the catchment area of the Bovenmark, both on the regular and the small-scale measures. For the long term it is recommended to keep an eye on spatial developments and respond on those developments when possible. Also a border-denying cooperation with Flanders is recommended in this research and for the source area of the Bovenmark it is recommended to come up with a model study so that measures can be taken in the future.